In DE 195 31 918 A1, a machine suitable for harvesting stalk-like plants, such as corn, for attachment to a forage harvester is described that has several mowing and pick-up mechanisms arranged transverse to the forward direction of travel across the field while harvesting. The mowing and pick-up mechanisms comprise a lower cutting plate similar to a circular saw blade, and feed plates arranged above this blade with recesses for taking in plants. The plants separated from the stubble left in the ground by way of the cutting plates are taken in by the feed plates and transported through the feed plates and the transverse feed drums arranged in the lower spaces on either side between the feed plates at the back sides of the mowing and pick-up mechanisms to the middle of the machine and passed to a feed channel of a forage harvester. The cutting plates and the feed plates are driven by the forage harvester by way of a mechanical drive section equipped with a gear, wherein the cutting plates are set in rotation with a higher speed than the feed plates. The drive of the cutting plates consequently takes place in a purely mechanical way and requires a relatively large, complicated, and expensive gearing for providing the required rotational speeds.
Furthermore, electromotive drives for agricultural harvesters have been proposed. For example, DE 100 34 784 A1 describes a harvester in which an electric motor is arranged within a crop conveying and/or processing mechanism for cutting, threshing, chopping, etc. Electromotive drives for driving the picking rolls of a corn picker have been described in DE 100 26 495 A1 and DE 10 2007 049 250 A1, while GB 1 593 698 A describes a tractor with mowing devices whose mowing blades are each driven by an electric motor. Finally, DE 10 2004 029 953 A1 describes a forage harvester in which the mowing and pick-up devices of the harvesting header can be driven at a variable speed by way of an overriding gear. The overriding gear is constructed as a planetary gear that is driven, on one hand, mechanically and, on the other hand, hydraulically or electrically at a variable rotational speed.
The problem forming the basis of the invention is seen in providing a machine for harvesting stalk-like plants with a cutting mechanism and a feed mechanism arranged above the cutting mechanism for taking in and discharging plant stalks, wherein this machine has a compact and low-complexity drive for the cutting mechanism.